In Which I Save the World By Accident
by oddandproud
Summary: An OC fanfic. Major Canon characters won't be playing much of a role. Something is happening in the world, a new opponent to be faced and Olympus is becoming worried. Clueless of this, a young woman named Devika is learning of her heritage as a demigod and is trying to find out who her father is, while surviving on the streets with her new allies. But is she the hero of this story?
1. A Large Venti to Go

**This is my first fic, so be gentle please! Reviews are wonderful!**

I have to confess- I'm not on a quest, or wasn't when I met you. It was probably the biggest lie I've ever told, and I've told a few whoppers. For the record, I'm really sorry about all of the little lies too, but I don't really have time to apologize for all of them right now. Gotta focus on the big ones. So this is me, trying to right a wrong I made. I lied to you and may have caused the end of the world. But this doesn't make any sense to you right now- I mean- you don't even know me, so I'll have to explain it.

My name's DeviTka. We met once. I'm a demi-god, which really isn't that cool. I mean, at first it was, but then it sort of went sour when boys started trying to kill me. It didn't take that long, so I only had about 6 seconds to enjoy it.

See, it started in a retirement home, up in Toronto, Canada.

I volunteered at the elderly home for the 40 hours of community service that all high schoolers are required to achieve before graduations. It's the standard for all public schools in my province (We joke it's because the governement doesn't have enough criminals to sweep the streets for them). The job was easy, simple: just give the old people their food, wheel them around to activities, then get out. For a kid with ADHD it wasn't the best job, but hey, I also wanted to graduate, so I sucked it up.I didn't have anywhere to go to: I got kicked out of the local homeless shelter and soup kitchen for starting fights with the clients. I was banned from the animal shelter because a mistake. There was this huge, hulking dog, and I swear it's mother had to be a horse it was so huge. Everyone else was too scared to go near it, so they voted that I feed story short, it attacked me. I kicked it away, and it ran off into the night. Truthfully, I felt a little sad about kicking it, but it was trying to bite my head off. Here, however, it was relatively tame. And by relatively tame, I mean soul-crushingly boring.

The walls were a bland shade of beige, with potted plants at regular intervals, and bad fluorescent lighting, making the entire building look surreal and other-worldly. It encouraged you to think about whether or not you'd like to live long enough to make it to this place. The old people were alright too. A few crazies, but overall it was a good gig, I suppose: no one has tried to bite me yet.

Speaking of crazies...

"Hello, Mrs. Gordon!" I smiled at the elderly lady as I walked into her drab room, carrying her plate of grey food. Mrs. Gordon smiled back at me, her eyes betraying that her mind was a little frayed under the messy blue-rinsed hair.

Mrs. Gordon was 94 years old. She liked kittens and watching natural disasters on the news. She had a special jar of lemon drops reserved for those special occasions, when she would crack it open and suck on a number of the sour candies depending on how bad the damage was.

Today, the jar was next to her, and there was a solitary drop next to it on the table. It had been a one-candy day. Nothing bad must have happened.

"Hello, dear. How's your father?" she asked, pointing to the television with one frail and wrinkly finger. A report of a meteor shower above Texas had made the news. It was unexpected, but no one was hurt, thankfully. A few barns and trucks were wrecked, however, which was probably the reason the jar was out. "He seems cranky today." The old woman winked as she popped the candy in her mouth.

"I told you, I don't know where my father is, Mrs. Gordon." I said, and sighed. She would bring him up constantly, as if she expected me to know him, to talk to him often. He left my mom before I was born, so I didn't have any idea where he went, and wasn't interested. I had a new step-dad. Mom married him when I was five. He's a cool dude. I tried telling Mrs. Gordon about him, but she insisted on talking about my real father. She tutted, making her wrinkles shift around her face like fine cobwebs. "Have you even tried to look?"

I rolled my eyes. How stupid would that be? Even if I found him, what would I say? _Hiya, Pops! I'm your kid that you don't know about! What have you been up to? Any other siblings I should worry about?_ On a list of things to do, finding my dad would be near the bottom, next to waxing my legs and becoming a Satanist."Not at all."

"What a lazy child." muttered the old woman.

"I can still hear you." I muttered back.

"What a lazy, stupid child." she said, louder this time.

Part of me wanted to laugh. She was a sassy lady. The other part of me was indignant. I settled for something in between. "Thank you Mrs. Gordon, I'll just leave and never come back." I said with humour as I opened the door to leave.

"That's what they all say!" she cackled before the door closed behind me.

I shook my head at Mrs. Gordon. She was head and shoulders above the rest of the elderlies at the rest home. Most of them could barely remember their own names, but Mrs. Gordon had them beat when it came to craziness. Despite having more bats in her belfry than an entire natural cave, she was the highlight of my day. As I checked the clock, I realized the worst time of the day was coming.

Bingo.

After delivering the meals to the old people, I had to wheel the infirm into the activities room for bingo, and then sit through the entire 2 and a half hour Purgatory of "B 9"s and "I 34"s. I could die in there and no one would even notice until someone won. I couldn't even bring my DS, because it was 'distracting.' It was _hell_ for someone with ADHD.

I checked my clipboard for the name of the person I would be wheeling. At first, the name was fuzzy, and I blinked a few times. The stupid fluorescent lights made everything hard to see, even on top of my dyslexia. I squinted a bit harder to make out the name. Mrs. Anne, room 176. At least, I was pretty sure that's what it said.

Sighing, I started walking down the hallway. I knocked on the door, opening slowly. "Mrs. Anne? I'm here to take you to bingo, ma'am?"

As it turns out, Mrs. Anne was already in her wheelchair, and she was arranging a tartan blanket over her legs with absolute severity. She glanced up at me by the door, a frown deepening the wrinkles around her mouth until they looked like they were carved in pale, blotched wood."Get over here, girl, I need to get a look at you."

"O-okay." I said, and I walked closer, standing straight as if I was being inspected.

The old lady grabbed her glasses and fumbled to put them on her nose. When she did, they perched at the tip, as if they could fall at any second. She peered through them at me only to recoil in shock. "You're borwn!" she cried.

_Oh my god. I got a racist old lady_, I thought _How the hell do get away with being racist nowadays? It's the twenty-first century! Even if she looks like she was born in the eighteenth, that's no excuse._

I sighed, and fought the urge to just leave. I needed the volunteer hours to graduate. I needed to graduate so I could get a job. I pictured myself in my graduation uniform dipolma in hand while Pomp and Circumstance was playing. "Yeah, my family's from India." I said through gritted teeth to Mrs. Anne

She didn't look any less repulsed. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, as if I was a rat that had wandered up from the sewers.

"I'm supposed to take you to bingo, although with that attitude, I'm beginning to think that you might just have to wheel _yourself_ down to activity room." I snapped at her.

"Don't think I won't report you for neglecting your duties, missy. I still gotta to bingo- I'll be damned to hell if I'd let that Mrs. Gordon beat me again!" she shook her cane- I kid you not- literally shook her cane in righteous indignation.

I sighed, thinking that this might not be the best idea. "Let's get this over with then." I mumbled as I grabbed her wheelchair and rolled her out the door.

Mrs. Anne muttered racist remarks under her breath and I tried my best to ignore her. The brown plywood doors couldn't go by fast enough, let me tell you. After about five minutes, thankfully, we arrived at the activity room.

It was a bigger version of the halls- beige wallpaper, flourescent lighting and potted plants and when we got there, it was just starting to fill with people. Mrs. Gordon was already seated at her usual place. Her and Mrs. Anne locked eyes and the hair on my arms rose. The animosity between them was tangible.

"Put me over there." commanded Mrs Anne, and pointed like a sea captain at a seat directly opposite to Mrs. Gordon. I rolled my eyes, but wheeled her over anyway.

"Eve." hissed Mrs. Anne as we came closer

Mrs. Gordon snapped out of her daze and looked around. She caught sight of me and my passenger."Abigail!" crowed Mrs Gordon. "Ready to _loose_?"

"In your dreams, Eve."

I turned to leave the two alone with their rivalry, when Mrs. Gordon called out to me. "Say hello to your father for me!"

Forcing a smile to my face, I turned back to face her. "Sure thing, Mrs. Gordon."

I looked around the room, trying to find someplace to sit where I wouldn't be a bother, when I spoted a dude, about my age standing in the corner. He looked uncomfortable and like her was looking for something through his dark messy hair. _Probably looking for someplace inconspicuous, like me_, I thought.

"Hey!" I said, walking towards him. He started, like he was surprised that someone had noticed him then glared at me.

"Who are you?" he demanded. "What do you want?

He looked up at me, and I was startled by his eyes for a moment. They... shone, as if light was sparking inside them. "Uhm..." I said, instinctively backing away. "Sorry. I just... thought you were someone else..." I lied.

The boy sniffed the air, and focused on me. He stepped forward. "Who are you?" he asked, more intently this time. I stared at him, and realized with a jolt that his eyes were sparking. Little bolts of electricity was running through them, lighting up his irises.

I stepped back again, looking at this boy fully this time. His clothes were old and dirty- patches missing in some places even- and peeking out from behind him were dark wings, that looked intangible as it made from smoke.

Yeah, wings. This dude had _wings._

My instincts started screaming at me to run.

"I-I need to go." I said, the words coming out in a rush. As I turned, he caught my arm, yanking me back.

"Not do fast, demi-god." he hissed the last word like a curse.

And that's when the window exploded

**The next chapter will be longer, I promise! Please review!**


	2. Dora Band-Aids and A Surpise Visit

**Thank you for your reviews, and for continuing to read! I hope you enjoy it. R&R Please!**

Okay, so that's the six seconds I had to enjoy the knowledge of my demi-godishness. Most of it was spent screaming and huddling from glass that was blown in through by a huge gust of wind.

I fell back, landing on the ground as glass showered down on me. The boy raised his hand, and the wind blew harder. I shielded my eyes, but managed to glimpse him through the tornado of broken glass the boy, wings extended, feet only barely touching the ground. I couldn't help it. I was terrified. I bit back a scream, and scrambled away.

The elderly screamed. They hid under tables and ran slowly to the exits. I dived behind an upturned table. I leaned against it, my back to the whirlwind. Everything was suddenly in sharp detail, as if I could see everything happening at once. My mind raced. It tried to think of someway- some impossible way of getting out of this or explaining this. It was- impossible. He couldn't be human- he was- was- something else. A monster.

"Don't try to hide, little goddess!" the boy yelled at me. The table flew away, leaving me exposed.

I froze, all plans in my head went quiet, except for one tiny little voice that said;

_I`m going to die._

That's when I realized that my head is absolutely useless when if comes to life or death situations.

The monster/boy/thing stepped forwards, and electricity cackled in his hands. He held it out, like he was going to shoot white hot energy at me, and I scrambled back, terrified..

Then a bingo ball came out of nowhere and hit the monster in it's eye.

In this retirement home, our bingo set was bought in the fifteenth century by the look of them, so they were actually made of wood and had some weight to them. Perfect for throwing. I whirled around to see Mrs. Gordon, standing on a table, clutching an armful of balls, and brandishing another ball in her right hand.

"Begone, foul spirit of the air! Get lost!" Mrs. Gordon then proceeded to cuss out the monster in ways that made me blush.

The monster looked about as confused as I did. The wind died down a little bit- enough time for Mrs. Gordon to lob one more bingo ball at it, hitting it right in the temple. It bounced off without more than a blink from the boy. He turned his attention to Mrs. Gordon, tilting his head in confusion.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

Mrs. Gordon shrugged with more grace than a ballerina, "Throwing balls at you."

He was distracted, and I glanced down at the bingo ball on the floor. It rolled towards me, revealing it's number- O 42. My mind went into overdrive. I could see everything clearly, like it was in high definition. I saw Mrs. Gordon on the table, frowning at the boy- the boy staring at Mrs. Gordon like a zoo exhibit.

He's going to kill her! I realized in a flash. I had to do something. I had to do _something_!

The boy lifted his hand again, energy cracking and I lurched into action.. Adrenaline shooting through my veins, I scooped up the bingo ball (O42) and biffed it at him. It collided with his nose and blood spurted out. "Wha-!" his hands flew to his face. It gave me my opening. I charged at him, pulling him to the floor before he could react.

We scrambled. I climbed on top and I saw his face, shocked, and a little scared._ Like me, like I was_.

I punched in the face. Over and over again, until he stopped moving.

In the aftermath, there was a stunned silence, then screams as the rest of the occupants of t room promptly ran for the exits as fast as their achy joints could take them. Soon it was only me and Mrs. Gordon left in the room. I stared at my hands, speckled with blood now, and bruises forming. "Oh my god." I whispered, scrambling off of the body.

"Well, that was fun." she said gleefully. "Today must be a five-lemon-drop day!"

I blinked in confusion, staring blankly at Mrs. Gordon as she climbed off of the table and rambled over to me. Her glasses were askew and her clothes had tears in them, but she looked as bright as ever. "What the hell was that?" I asked in a small and confused voice.

"Beats me." Mrs. Gordon shrugged, helping me up. "Looked like a air-thingy. Spirit. You know, a storm-doodad. Nasty stuffs."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I cried. "It looked- it looked like it was going to- to kill me, what the hell?" I started pacing. "I don't- I don't understand, what did he.. it want? Oh, this can't be happening, this can't be happening this can't be..."

"Didn't your parents tell you about this? Why are you asking me?" The old lady made a face. She let the bingo balls fall to the floor.

I waved my hands in the air. "CAUSE YOU LOOK LIKE YOU KNOW WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON." I sat down on a table heavily, rocking back and forth with my head in my hands, "Please tell me that was a dream. This isn't happening this isn't..."

Mrs. Gordon patted me on the back. "Sorry, but it wasn't. Personally I'm surprised that it hadn't happened earlier. Demi-gods tend to be attacked. Thought you knew."

"Demi-god?" I gaped at her. "What are you even talking about?"

"It means you're the kid of a Greek god and a mortal, or human. Really? Has no one told you this?" she said as if this was supposed to be common knowledge.

Demi-god... The monster... "storm-doodad" had called me "little goddess." This was all new knowledge- Greek gods, monsters; I had only heard about these in school and audiobooks. This was insane.

"You're insane." I said, breathless.

Mrs. Gordon nodded. "Yep." she rapped her head with a knuckle. "It's why I get to see more than others. Still doesn't make me wrong though- you're still a demi-god."

"No- I'm not, this is just... crazy stuff, okay?"

"Oh my gods, you need to get over this- there are lots of demi-gods! It's okay! You're not alone- you even got half-siblings out there! On your dad's side of course."

My head whipped up. "My dad? What does he have to do with anything?"

"Greek god- I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet- you really are a stupid girl."

"Hey.." I protested weakly as my heart wasn't in it anymore. She was just spouting nonsense now. She could say anything now and I wouldn't really care. This was crazy- it wasn't possible- didn't make sense. "Yeah. Whatever, Greek god... sure."

She looked at me, puzzled. "Of course! Your dad is-"

The storm-spirit shifted on the floor. He moaned, and he cut Mrs. Gordon off. She waved at me urgently, motioned to the door. "Get out!" she hissed.

"But-" I opened my mouth.

She pressed a finger to her lips. "Shhh! Go! It'll wake up soon, and you don't want to be here when he does. You're a demi-god: he'll want to hurt you more than he'll want to hurt me."

Oh please. I wanted to just get out right then and there, but Heather popped back into my head, making me pause. Mrs. Gordon saved my life "What will you do? A-are you going to be okay?"

Her head bobbled, her blue hair sticking up in all directions. "Oh, I think I'll just stick around, make sure that it's held up while you make a run for it. I should be fine- besides, I've had a good life."

I froze. It was weird, that she was talking about dying with so... casually. I was at war with myself. She seemed fine with it, and I really really wanted to get out of there, get somewhere safer... Home. Even if Mrs. Gordon could die- I didn't care. "A-are you sure?" I mumbled.

She smiled and nodded. "Go."

I did. I turned and ran out of the building just as sirens began to wail. I regretted doing that, but at the time, I was just happy to be alive.

It was half an hour walk to my house, and I made it in twenty minutes, because the adrenaline was still pumping through my blood. I just had to get away from that place- away from that thing. Mrs. Gordon wouldn't hold it off for long. I practically flew up the apartment stairwells, up to the fifth floor.

"Mom? George?" I yelled.

"Devitka?" yelled my mom from the living room. "Devitka, what's wrong?"

I ran to the living room, just in time to catch my mom as she stood up. My mom was a few inchesshorter than me, had darker skin with a few wrinkles around the eyes. We shared the same hair- wild and curly- which she had up in a bun. She took one look at me and gasped.

"Devitka, what the- what happened to you?"

I pointed, breathless, in vaguely the same direction as the retirement home. "There was- there was a thing, and it did this.. thing and there was broken glass and then Mrs. Gordon threw a bingo ball at it and I knocked it out and- and then I came here." The words rushed out of my mouth, jumbling together as I tried to make sense of the events that had just occurred.

My mother blinked at me, a look of extreme worry on her face."What?" she stood up fully, and started ushering me to the bathroom.

"I don't- I don't even know what the whole... Stuff happened today and I don't know how to explain it," I bit my lip. My mother opened the bathroom door, turned on the faucet in the bath and left, telling me she would be back with cloths. Left alone, I stood in front of the mirror, getting the first look at myself since the accident.

The girl in the mirror staring back at me. She had cuts and scrapes on every square inch of my brown skin, with blood creeping down. Her hair was a bird's nest and her eyes were red and puffy. She looked scared, frightened and little. I sighed, my stomach dropping and shame creeping into my mind. I was scared and.. .I had just run away, leaving Mrs. Gordon there with the monster thing. She could be dead and it would be my fault. If I had stayed... I might be dead, but at least... at least I'd know. At least I wouldn't be a coward.

Tears started forming in the corners of my eyes.

"Oh, Dev..." murmured my mother. Her arms wrapped around me, stroking my hair. It hurt, and I could feel sharps of glass press into my skin.

My throat felt dry, sore, closed up. If I started talking, everything would just come undone. I'd start crying- sobbing, and my pride wouldn't allow that. I grimaced, "I-it's okay, Mom." I croaked, finally. I think she knew I was lying, but she was nice enough not to say anything. She just nodded and ran the cloth under the water. She turned back to be and started dabbing at my wounds.

"Looks like it was serious." she said softly.

"It was scary." I swallowed, hard.

We lapsed into silence. I took off my shirt, and Mom continued to brush glass shards off of me, while applying antiseptic to where it's needed. Every once and a while, I hissed in pain, but was otherwise quiet.

My mind, however, was racing,

What had just happened? I had just seen boy with wings that seemed to control wind and lightning! He tired to kill me but Mrs. Gordon threw a wooden ball at him and they all mentioned called me a demi-god. My dad, too. I was tired, and I needed reassuring that the world wasn't crazy- I wasn't crazy.

"M-Mom?" I stumbled over the words. "Mom... can you tell me about Dad?"

"Who, George?" she laughed. "He's out grocery shopping. Besides, I think you know everything there is to know about him. Except he snores."

Despite what I was feeling, I managed to laugh along with her. "No- I know that too- I can hear him." My hands suddenly became suddenly interesting. "I meant... my real Dad."

She stiffened. "You know... we had a thing- it didn't last long- and her left before I knew I was pregnant. What makes you ask now?"

"It's just.. what happened at the home... I think.. I think it had something to do with my real dad."

My mother dropped the towel. "What?"

I waved my hands to placate her. "No, no, it's just- they kept mentioning him, like they knew him and I was really confused, so I thought maybe you could clear things up."

She sighed through her nose as she picked up the towel. She rinsed it slowly, getting all the blood and glass off before returning to dab at me.

"Your father was a lot different than George. He was gruff. Almost closed off, but once you got on his good side, he was great. We dated for... about 2 months. After two, he moved away, and I never saw him again. I found out that month I was pregnant. I tried everything to call him or get in contact, but nothing worked. He was gone, and I was left with the task of telling your grandparents that I was pregnant out of wedlock."

I laughed sympathetically. From what I had heard, Nani was hell in comfortable penny loafers. She ruled the family with an iron fist, and had a twisted sense of humour. She didn't take any news well, always finding the worst in it. "That must have been hard."

"You have no idea." she chuckled. "There was yelling and screaming and they excommunicated me. I haven't seen them since. That's all of the story."

The knowledge took a while to sink in. There was no new information, nothing that could help me. I wanted to ask if he was a... no that'd be silly. Mom, did my dad just so happen to be a Greek god, and if it's not too much trouble- would you mind telling me which one? How could I have possibly justified that question without sounding insane?

"What was his name?" I asked. She worked her way down my arm and rinsed out the towel again.

"He said his name was Karl Tongs."

I thought back to what I had learned in school, about Greek mythology and was happy to find that there was no god named Karl. A pause hung in the air, and I thought it would be best if I didn't pry any more. I would have time to ask about him later. For the time being, I've been reassured that I am not completely insane.

"There." declared my mother five minutes later. "I'm done with your upper body. I'm sure you can do your legs yourself." I looked down at my torso, covered in little Dora the Explorer band aids.

"I think I've got it from here." I agreed.

She handed me the towel and left, most likely to call my step-father asking him to pick up some more band aids. We were running low. Soon I'd have to resort to SpongeBob themed ones. As much as I enjoyed the show, I didn't want a laughing SpongeBob anywhere near my legs. Or Dora, for that matter, but at least we're both girls. What happens between girls stays between girls.

I heard Mom talking on the phone in hushed whispers to George. She sounded scared, and I couldn't blame her.

Then the doorbell rang.

My mother answered it. I applied the last Dora Band-Aid and heard her gasp. "Oh my god, are you okay?"

A frail voice I recognized traveled to the bathroom, "Oh I should be alright," said Mrs. Gordon. "I was just wondering if your daughter was home."

Hastily, I pulled on a long-sleeve shirt and some cargo pants, and emerged from the bathroom just in time to see her hobble into my kitchen with her cane. She has multiple scratches across her frame and a nasty one that ran over her eye. It was bleeding and she kept having to blink it away as she swayed gently where she stood. Mom stared at me as if to say Who is this, and who else should I expect to show up?

"Mrs. Gordon?" I was shocked and over joyed to see her alive. "What- How did you..." A million questions flew through my mind. How are you alive? Where is the storm thing? How did you get those wounds? Who's my dad? Have you missed your crazy medication? Of course, the only one that comes out of my mouth was; "How did you know where I lived?"

"It was on your volunteer form which you so carelessly left behind." she shoved a grubby and torn piece of paper under my nose, which had my name and address very clearly printed out. "I found it at the front desk. You should be more careful with your things, Devika."

She's bleeding on the floor, and she takes the time to scold me? She's tougher than I thought.

"Uh, Mrs. Gordon, would you like to sit down? You look like you need to..." I said, grabbing a chair from the kitchen table.

She nodded. She seemed pleased with me. "Don't mind if I do. Thank you, dear. At least you can remember your manners." Mrs. Gordon eased into the chair, resting her cane against the table. After a moment's though, she turned to Mom. "Can you be a dear and get me a glass of water? I'm afraid the trip over here left me parched."

"I could get you a towel for your head too- with the number of towels I've ruined today, it wouldn't really hurt to ruin one more." my mother offered.

"That would be lovely, thank you, Mrs. Gupta. I need to talk to your daughter alone anyway."

"No you don't." I said but it was too late, Mom had left, and I was alone.

My eyes found the floor, and locked my gaze.

"Devitka? Is something wrong?"

"Many, many things are wrong. You are one of them. I just almost killed someone because of you!" I hissed.

"Almost but you didn't- I dealt with him for you."

My chair clattered to the floor as I shot to my feet. "You WHAT?"

Mrs. Gordon sipped her tea. "Why are you so surprised? He's a Venti- or a storm-spirit. He's a monster- they don't count as people."

"But- but- but you killed him!"

"Hush, hush of course not. I didn't have Celestial Bronze with me, that's the only thing that can kill them, send... them back to Tartarus. Anyway. We need to talk about your future."

"I don't want to talk about my future with you-"

"That really doesn't matter. Cause you're a-a..." Mrs. Gordon frowned concentrating. "What's the word... demi-god. Yer a demi-god, Devitka... You need to know things. There's a place... to go..."

Mrs. Gordon was beginning to list to one side, her speech becoming slower, more confusing. It wasn't looking good. She needed a doctor. My mother entered the room, with a damp cloth.

"Mom-"I whispered to her. She nodded, and whispered into my ear. "Called the ambulance while I was gone. I didn't train as a nurse for nothing. They would be here in 10 minutes, keep her talking."

"What was that?" yelled our guest. "Sorry- my hearing isn't what it used to be!"

"I was just commenting to Dev about your- uh- I was just asking her if she'd like some tea too." lied my mother.

She looked disappointed. "Oh. Fine, then... Back to the... demi-godliness. Your daddy's a goddy. You've got the scent on you... I know cause I... I got clear sight. I got really, really good eyesight. Yes."

Mrs. Gordon grabbed my arm suddenly. She leaned in close. "Your daddy is..." Her eyes glazed over. "You know what? I've completely forgotten. Pack your bags. Got to the States.. there should be a road, path... find your way to the camp."

"O-okay, Mrs. Gordon..." I stammered. She had stopped making sense at this point. I glanced at my mother, who was just as confused as I was. She lifted a hand and twirled a finger around her head- Cuckoo. Mrs. Gordon didn't see and continued rambling.

"And I know this... cause I'm a not a demi-god... like you. But- but- but- Imma clever 'un." she tapped her head. "That's why I'm still alive 'n' kicking..." A frown crossed her face and a look of intense worry made me pause.

"Mrs... Gordon?"

The woman placed her mug on the table. "Did I do a slip tie or a...sailor's knot when I tied it up?" She looked up at me, sudden clarity in her eyes "Oh dear." she said to herself. "It's got your scent... It'll come for you."


	3. On the run from a Starbucks Drink

**Yay! Next Chapter! Exciting things ahead! R&R!**

However crazy or loopy Mrs. Gordon might have been then, the boy had been real. I was sure of it. Maybe not the magical floating part- the I distinctly remember the 'trying to kill us' part, and that was not good, magic or not.

"I thought you dealt with him!" I shouted.

My mother's head snapped around to glare at me. "Devitka! Lower your voice. Big movements are not good now, she needs to be calm!"

"I am calm." said Mrs. Gordon. "It's just there's a Venti coming to kill your daughter."

"That's nice." said Mom, staring in disbelief at Mrs. Gordon. She glanced back at me for a moment, and I could read her mind- _What a crazy._ I wished I could be so certain too.

Sirens wailed, as ambulances came closer. They would be here soon, and my mother made a snap decision. She passed the blood soaked towel to me and stood. "Devitka, keep this applied to the wound. You have to keep constant pressure, okay? I'm going to go meet the ambulances. Stay. Here. We can talk about this later."

Blood started to trickle down my arm, warm and sticky but I nodded. I pressed the towel to Mrs. Gordon's head, ignoring the blood. My mother nodded, and left, running out the door and down the hallway.

"Mmm." mumbled Mrs. Gordon. "Sorry, Devvy... I didn't have Celestial bronze... couldn't really kill it... I was hoping you would leave before it came... If you run, it would have a harder time to find you..."

It felt like a lightning bolt ran through my spine. Leave? My eyes widened as I thought about it. _Leave?_ While someone who may or may not have powers is trying to _kill_ me? And can track me by my smell?

"No!" I yelled. "I'm going to call the cops- they-they're the ones who are supposed to deal with-" I waved my hands around in the air. "-All of this!"

Mrs. Gordon scoffed."Really. You think they can handle this world? The one with monsters and gods and really good tea- this is very good tea..." she sipped it again.

"What makes you think _I_ can handle all of this?"

"Because you don't have a choice. You have to deal with it, and you have to learn how, fast." She shook her head. "I had someone to tell me how, but you... You don't- I would have, but you've got to go and I've lost... a lot of blood. Can't go anywhere now, but you can... You have to."

"I don't want to."

"Do you want your mother to get hurt?"

The short answer was _no_. The long answer was _hell no_. When I thought about it like that... it made sense. I'd rather that mom didn't have to go through what I did at the retirement home. But I didn't want to leave. My herd instincts were in control. Home was safe- people were safe- if I stayed with people, we would be safe. Safety in numbers.

But I knew that I had already made my decision.

I handed her the towel. "Hold it to your head- I'm going to pack."

She pressed it to her wound, and nodded gently as I left to my bedroom."Good for you, dearie. Looks like you're not so s-stupid after all. Head to the States... and take your passport!"

"I am not going to the States, you bat." I yelled. I pulled my backpack off the back of a chair, and dumped the contents on the floor. Audio books, pencils, paper spilled out. It made a mess but I ignored it, refilling the bag with a change of clothes and a pair of boots. After a moment's thought, I threw in my iPod. There were some books on there I wanted to listen too, might as well have something to do while I'm on the run. "I'm not going to be gone for long- I'm just going to get rid of this... thing! Then I'm coming straight back, you hear? I don't even own a passport..." I told her as I emerged from my room, snagging my jacket on the way out. Spring in Canada was less of a separate season and more of a second-winter. I would need it, even if I was gone for a little bit. There were still snow banks in a few areas and it was the end of March.

"Then take... this!"

A small booklet with red leather and Greek writing on the cover appeared in front of my nose. Even though I had never studied Greek, I could tell it said _Greek Book_. "Of course... it's been years since I've used it; I don't think they make them anymore, but if should get the job done. It's like... a special passport and guide. It'll get you any where across borders. Doesn't work on smaller things, like towns, so... be careful. If anyone asks you're on a t-top secret quest. " explained Mrs. Gordon. My eyebrows pulled together. "I don't want it."

"Take it anyway. It can answer some questions you have. You might need it."

I stared at the booklet for a second before sighing and tossing it into my bag. "I'll give it to you when I get back." I looked around and wondered what else I would need.

"A knife would be good." suggested Mrs. Gordon. I grabbed a carving knife from the rack, shoving it in my bag with the rest of the stuff, and threw in some granola bars.

The sirens arrived outside, and I heard my mother talking to them through the window- she must have been yelling.

"Tell my mom-" I swallowed hard. I suddenly had a frog in my throat. "Tell my mom I'll be back soon, okay?"

"Of course, dearie." Mrs. Gordon waved her away.

I swallowed again, and left my home. I took the stairs, just as the elevator doors dinged, and opened.

The wind was picking up when I made my dash to the shed for my bike. It would be easier than running; faster too. It only took a few moments for me to unlock it and be on my way down the street. The sun was shining, with a brisk wind. It was weird. I expected it all to be doom and gloom, but no... Today was only a train wreck for me. Everyone else was having a normal day.

Heh... Normal.

I didn't have a plan. I really wished I did though. Some fore-thought would have been nice, but I was getting the feeling that there wasn't much time for advance-planning in this strange new world I was in. I thought about going to a friend's house, but I couldn't for the same reason I was leaving in the first place. They would be in danger. I headed East, going to the shoreline of Lake Ontario- there were more bike lanes and paths. It would be faster there.

Thunder rolled overhead, a freak storm appearing. _Storm-spirit_, said Mrs. Gordon. This couldn't be good.

Rain started to pour, and I started to panic. Darkness fell, even though it was only early afternoon. Rain bounced off of my head, getting in my eyes, and making it hard to see. The hair on my arms stood on end. I could practically feel him near me. He was getting close.

Lightning struck a stoplight two blocks ahead in a flash so fast I would have missed it had I not have been glancing up. I could hear the wires and circuits practically scream from there, high and piercing. Next to the light, I saw a figure, with dark wings. The Venti. I slammed on the brakes, only to start skidding, hitting a parked car and rolling a few feet on the cold wet concrete before coming to a halt.

I scrambled up to my feet, keeping my eyes on the figure.. He started walking towards me, and I could just hear over the wind. "YOU BROKE MY NOSE! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" he yelled, pointing to his swollen nose. "MY NOSE MAY BE WEAKER, BUT I CAN STILL SMELL YOU!" Lightning struck again, hitting a power line. It sparked and flared, blinding me. I blinked away spots, and he seemed to float towards me, feet barely touching the ground, and I lurched into action. I righted my bike, and put pedal to the metal.

Through the rain, I biked as fast as I could. I headed towards the lake, which crossed my mind as a stupid, idea, but it seemed like the right direction. _Away_. Less traffic, more people.

Once I hit the lake shore, I turned west, away from Toronto.

I paused, the storm seeming to have subsided to the horizon. I seemed to have out run it for a while. I had been pedaling for like, 4 hours, and had managed to get somewhere near Burlington, some minor town in the Greater Toronto Area. I had never been before, but it seemed nice enough.

I took down my hood and shook out my hair. I was soaking. I hadn't dried out from the downpour earlier that day. The sun was beginning to set as I wandered around their downtown. I'd need someplace to stay. My first thought was a homeless shelter. Scary and sketchy as hell, but I didn't have enough money for a hotel room and then food for tomorrow. I looked around, checking the flyers taped to telephone poles for any ads for a homeless shelter. I passed by a tech store, and the display TVs were all turned to a news channel. The anchor was reporting some story. I couldn't hear it through the glass. There was a tagline beneath her, and after trying to decipher it, I read: "UNEXPECTED FLARE ABOVE THE NIAGARA RIVER: SUSPECTED FIREWORKS. AUTHORITIES INVESTIGATING." I wondered how slow a news day they must have had in order to resort to that story- usually there was nothing but drugs, scandal and violence on the news.

Like it was timed, the news report changed. It showed the retirement home at which I volunteered. There was shaky video footage, mostly of elders trying to run. There was no footage of the inside. Old people, for the most part, wouldn't have video cameras. I thanked God for small miracles.

Out of the corner of the frame, I saw myself dart out of the building. I looked like I have just been through a blender and- I looked down at my cuts and bruises and tears in my clothes from falling off my bike- I suppose I still did.

Next, a picture of the monster popped up on the screen, the words SUSPECT underneath with bold red letters. The news anchor did her best to look severe, but only came off as mildly constipated. Next, the words "Last seen in the Mississauga area, heading south-west" appeared, and I mouthed the words to myself as I read the words slowly.I frowned, fear running through me like adrenaline. Wait, no. That _was_ the adrenaline. "South-west" was in my direction. Damn! He was quick.. Even on my bike, I was too slow. But I was already tired. I was fit, but still. Four hours of non-stop-pedaling-for-my-life takes it out of me. I needed someplace to sleep, maybe doesn't have to be safe per se, but it should be dry and warm and come with a shower.

My backpack shifted of it's own freewill and I jumped a mile high. I threw off the pack and scrambled away from it. It shifted again. I swallowed hard. What the hell was up with my pack? Summoning my courage, I crept forwards and pulled the zipper down.

The Greek passport book fell out, twitching on the ground like it was having some sort of papery seizure. It flipped open, flying to a middle page.

"_Hello! And welcome to the Wonderful Demi-god Life Manual!_" it said in a pleasant and cheery female voice. It was like the voice on an airplane that explained how to buckle your seat belt, but had a thin, almost dry voice.

I yelped and hid behind a telephone pole.

It continued, the pages wavering slightly as it spoke. "_Please insert your name, and godly parent!_"

I didn't know what to do, so I just stared at it for a while until it sighed in it's thin voice. There was no way I was going to talk to a _book_. That would just be the last straw. I would officially be insane.

"_State you name and godly parent, please,_" it said. "_Out_ loud, _please_."

I bit my lip and gave in. Today was crazy enough. This couldn't hurt. "Uh... Devitka Gupta, and... I don't.. .know?"

"_Should I put you down as unclaimed?_" asked the book.

"...Sure?" I replied even though I had no idea what it was talking about.

"_Welcome, DEVITKA GUPTA, to the Wonderful Demi-god Life Manual, also known as the Demi-god Manual, or even, the G-book, for Greek-book,_" it said as if it was reciting lines memorized a long time ago. "_This is a book to help you on your journey as a young hero. May I take a moment to tell you about my author?_"

I shrugged. Might as well... "I don't.. see why not."

"_ Dionysus, god of wine and festivities, has put this manual together to help young heroes complete their quests and survive on their own so they 'can leave and never come back, the little sh-' QUOTE REMOVED BY CHIRON. Please remember that he has written this out from the bottom of his life, and you should be eternally grateful. I have been brought to life by Hecate. Please enjoy, and pass it on to other worthy demi-gods in the event of your death. Thank you for listening._"

My heart skipped a beat. "Death?"

It ignored me, "_I was specially designed to help you with all your needs. Use me to make your quest easier. May I ask how you came across me, and why you are not wearing a skirt? It is unwomanly to be seen in anything but a skirt that reaches your knees,_" It paused, then coughed pointedly when I took more than 5 seconds to respond.

"What? Oh-uh... An old lady gave it to me- Mrs. Gordon..." I ignored the part about the skirt.

"_Oh! ... Yes, she's a clear sighted mortal- there are a number of them in the world. She was the mother of my last __owner." _the book was silent, but not for long._ "May I ask the date?_"

I thought for a moment before replying. It flapped its pages, which I took as the equivilent of nodding.

"_My, it has been a long time... My duty remains! From the information I have recently found, I seem to be over 40 years out of date. Please turn me in, and receive a new, updated version!"_

I tried to think of a way to word what was running through my mind. "Turn you into... where? Mrs. Gordon said that things like you weren't made anymore."

_"Very well, you will have to make due with me, until other substitutes can be found. What would you like to know, DEVITKA GUPTA?_"

"Uh..." My mind raced. "Where can I find some place to stay?" I asked.

"_What do I look like? A phone book directory? No, I can't tell you where you can find a place to stay. I can only give you advice._"

"Then, can I get some advice?"

"_Pick me off the ground first, thank you very much._"

I sighed, but picked the red-leather book and then slung my back pack on my shoulder. "Now can I have advice?"

The G-Book pages flipped rapidly making a _pfthhhhh_ noise before finally resting to a page that had a picture of a house on it.

"_When finding a place to stay, please take into account your location, and your budget," began the G-Book. "There are many places to stay including, but not limited to hotels, motels, hostels, homeless shelters, alleyways, under bridges, abandoned buildings, and cars. If you you do choose a hotel, motel, hostel or shelter, beware, as they may record your visit, and pass it on to unsavory characters, like GORGONS, HARPIES, MINOR GODS, and other HUMANOID BEINGS. They may have minor security, and comfortable quarters. Alleyways, under bridges and by-passes, buildings and cars are anonymous, but there may be legal ramifications-_"

"This isn't helping, G-Book," I cut it off.

"_Well, excuse me,_" said the G-Book with more sass than any other books I've heard. Which is a total of one, but let's not nit-pick, okay? "_This is just what was written in me!_"

A clap of thunder made the surrounding buildings shake and a few drops of rain began to fall. The G-Book trembled in my hands. "_RAIN! RAIN OH GODS RAIN DON'T LET ME GET WET!_" it screamed. I sighed and put it in my jacket. "Better?" I asked, as I pulled my bicycle up and straddled it. "Way to go- you wasted my time and now it's caught up with me. Guess who doesn't get any rest?" I snapped at it.

The voice of the G-Book was muffled slightly by my jacket. "_Wait- something is after you? What is it?_"

"Uh.." My mind went blank. _Damn!_ The name had flown out of my head. "Something Starbucks-y.."

"_Are you even speaking English?_"

"Shut up- you're not helping!" I hissed, pedaling away on my bike. "It was something like... like.. It started with a 'V'- Venti! It's a Venti- that's what Mrs. Gordon said it was."

The G-Book paused, then launched into a speech; "_VENTI, also known as STORM SPIRITS. Monsters born of pure chaos, born when TYPHON was defeated by various OLYMPIAN GREEK GODS. They have the abilities to A- Control lightning and wind, B-fly, C- become intangible. Extreme caution advised. If you have a child of Zeus or some one with powers over the sky/wind/rain, it would be best if they fought the Venti_."

"Fat lot of good you are- I don't have a child of Zoo or whatever!"

"_You may be a child of ZEUS-"_ it pronounced the name deliberately_. "-seeing as you are unclaimed. Have you ever demonstrated any ability to influence the skies with emotions, fly, shock people with lightning, or find yourself drawn to high altitudes?_"

"I don't scared of heights and I've never influenced the sky as far as I know!"

"_This doesn't look good._" it muttered in my jacket.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." I muttered back.

"_I would suggest going south. The gods have more control in the States, you will have more power and protection_."

"What if I don't want to go to the States?"

"_Would you rather die, or run?_"

Lightning flashed besides us, and I counted seconds for the thunder. One... two... thr- Thunder boomed. Too close, so close. It answered my question. I pedaled harder, and pulled around a corner, course correcting for the U.S.. "Fine. I run. We do as you say."

I had been bicycling for a total of 8 hours and I was exhausted. Sleep and rest was so tempting, but every time I stopped, even for a few minutes, the Venti came closer and the storm intensified, forcing me back on my bike.

But finally, the Niagara river was so close, I could see it through the buildings, and a bridge. A custom's building. I pedaled harder; salvation in sight, it felt. Lightning flashed, and there wasn't even enough time to count a second before thunder rumbled closer than ever before. I glanced up and in the dark sky, I saw a figure in the clouds.

_The Venti._

I ditched the bike, throwing it to the side just as a bolt of lightning struck it. Sparks flew, but I ignored them, running for the customs' building. Light flashed, and the front doors crackled alive with electricity. I didn't stop. Without even thinking about it, I kicked the doors open with my shoe, the rubber protecting me, but melting at the contact.

Inside was dim, lights flickering on and off, and a small line of miserable people waiting to get through. They all turned and gawked at me, but I ignored them.

I leaped a rope barrier and charged for the security guard as another roll of thunder shook the building.

"Hey you can't-" began the guard, her hand reaching for her belt. I was quicker than her, thankfully. I had my G-Book out and shoved it under her face "I'M ON A QUEST AND I NEED TO GET THROUGH NOW." I screamed. The poor guard looked terrified, like she was going to scream or call security Then a strange thing happened. Her eyes became cloudy, like a film of mist was covering them. She snatched the G-Book from my hands and stamped it. I had it back faster than I could blink. "Enjoy your stay." she droned. I didn't wait to say thank you, I just bolted.

The bridge was mostly deserted, with only a trickle of cars going to and from the border. I ran to the side, the headlights of passing cars illuminating my shadow as they passed. Beneath me, the Niagra swirled and churned. My feet felt so heavy, like concrete blocks, splashing in the puddles. I suddenly regretted leaving my bike behind. My body was resisting me, and I could feel myself slowing down. I needed all the speed I could get.

Rough hands seized me, lifting me into the air. My feet left the ground and I kicked wildly. I made the mistake of looking down, and I nearly passed out. My heart rate shot through the roof and I squeezed my eyes shut. _Not heights, please not heights_.

I clawed at my attacker. The Venti hissed. He dropped me onto the river bank. I splashed in the shallows and muck. The entire bank was littered with pollution, shopping carts and huge, metal and unrecognizable objects lay half-buried in the mud.

"_Water! Water! I'm wet!_" screamed G-Book.

Surfacing, I was just quick enough to catch the Venti landing on the firm sand of the river. I reached into my pack, not tearing my eyes off of my hunter, and pulled out the knife I had brought. I clutched it in my hands. It slipped, but I kept readjusting. A trickle of mud fell over my eye, and I wiped it away, smearing mud over my face.

"Well, well, well..." said the monster, flying gently towards me. Wind whipped my face, making it hard to see. "Little demi-god's got a knife. Colour me... _scared_." he sneered the last word. I couldn't blame him for not being intimidated. I was exhausted, scared, shivering, muddy and I could barely hold a knife. I bared my teeth. "Stay back!" I screamed. "I'm n-not afraid to use it!"

"Oh, really? And what good will that do me? You're not sending me back to Tartarus with that letter opener." it smirked. "Not a lot of demi-gods have your audacity. Not even attacking me with a divine metal." it scoffed.

Confusion filled me. Other demi-gods... people like me, divine metals- that must be what Mrs. Gordon mentioned. Not to mention the fact that I didn't know what _audacity_ meant at all."Yeah, well... What were you doing in a retirement home? Creepy much?" I shot back.

It frowned, "I got lost. Human establishments are... confusing to me. I thought it was a school."

I snorted, even though my death was probably imminent. "Still creepy."

The Venti sneered. "What am I waiting for?" it laughed. Lightning crackled in the air. It raised his hand, and I sprung into action. I ran forwards, out of the water, and slashed at the monster. It was taken aback, and I managed to cut across it's arm. It hissed in pain and leapt back, throwing lightning at me.

I twisted away, and the lightning flew past, blasting a crater in the river bank. I pushed at the figure, trying to stab him again. It scowled, swiping at me. I dodged to the right, but lightning the blast flung me further, slamming me into the bridge foundations. I saw stars, and landed in soft mud. I lay, winded, as I watched the Venti fly above me, perching on the railing of the over pass. He smirked, and burned through the railing off with two rapid-fire lightning strikes, separating a portion of it.

Before I had time to realize what it was doing, it kicked the railing over, landing on my lower half.

The weight pushed me lower into the mud, and it almost consuming me. I screamed out in pain. I couldn't tell if my legs were broken or not. The Venti smiled cruelly and hovered over me, hanging in the air.

"Trapped so easily..." it murmured. "What a disappointment... I thought you would be more fun."

I gripped the iron bars, trying to pry them off, but to no avail- I was trapped. I was helpless, I was going to die. I strained, grunting from the effort.

The Venti landed on the railing, pushing me further into the muck, and making me scream again. "No one can hear you, little demi-god," it taunted, grinding it's shoe-less foot into my stomach. I flailed my arms around, looking for something to grab, something to fight with. My hand touched something cold and metal and my heart leapt. I got a firm hold of it, feeling the edges. It was sharp, perfect. I tried to pace my breathing and waited for the right time to strike.

The Venti leaned forwards, it's face only a few inches from mine. I could see it's eyes, crackling with energy, and smell its breath. "You're a runner not a fighter," it mused. "But you can't run forever."

I really wished I had said a witty come back, but I was tired, wounded, about to die and desperate. Give me a break.

In a flash, I sliced at the Venti with the metal object, and prayed it would hit.

It did.

A gash of golden liquid appeared on it's throat, dripping on me. The monster's eyes' bulged as they slowly flickered out. I stared into them as he died, never once loosening my grip on the sharp of metal I had found. Slowly, his eyes went out, and his body crumbled into dust.

I lay back in the mud, shocked at what I had just done. I had just taken a life. I killed something. I didn't know what to feel. Confused, angry, scared... I glanced at the shard that had saved my life. Underneath the dirt and gold blood, the bronze metal shone in the darkness.

I thanked it with my mind, slipping it into my coat pocket. _  
_

Still in shock, I braced my hands against the cool metal that trapped me and pushed.

Slowly, but surely and with a huge sucking noise, the railing rose off of me and I managed to slip out from underneath it.

I gasped in relief that the weight was gone, and I started to cry. I was so tired I didn't care.

"Come on," said a voice. "Get up, there might be more."

**Things are picking up! More in the next chapter!**


	4. The Son of Aphrodite is a bit useless

**Continuing from the last chapter... Please rate and review!**

* * *

I looked up in alarm for the owner of the voice, brandishing my shard of bronze.

"Who are you?" I yelled, looking wildly around.

"Benny, I'm Benny." A figure appeared on the bridge, leaning against the railing. "Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you."

"Forgive me if I don't believe you- I have had a really bad day and judging by my luck- this isn't going to end well."

"I can see that." The figure jumped the railing and dropped to the muddy ground. "Eugh, my shoes are going to be ruined."

Now that he was closer, I could see him with more clarity. He had short black hair, that fell into his eyes, and a face that would have made me swoon, had I not already been swooning from exhaustion. He wore fairly regular clothes, plain, with leather finger-less gloves but he managed to make it stylish, even though he had a bronze breastplate over his t-shirt. In his hand was a bow made of the same sort of bronze-y metal as his breastplate, and slung over his back was a quiver full of arrows, and the weapons shone slightly. I looked down, and realized that the shard in my hand was the same metal.

"Do you know how many others of those are out there?" He nodded at the dust dissolving in the mud. "What about.. machine monsters, see any of those?"

I swallowed, thinking. "I-I think there was only one. If- if you had that thing-" I pointed at the bow in his hand. "-why didn't you help?"

Benny laughed. "I wouldn't want to tangle with one of those. Besides, I'm sort of a bad shot- I was more likely to hit you. Wouldn't want to kill another demi-god."

"Demi-god?" my voice cracked. "Y-you're a demi-god?"

"Yeah," he said, walking towards me into the faint light of the bridge. "Son of Aphrodite. Who are you?"

"D-dev..." I managed to mutter before passing out.

What happened next is still fizzy to me. I fell back in the mud. and I vaguely felt hands, pulling me away. I realized that I had passed out, I was dreaming, but it was so vivid.

I was in a room, filled with shining suits of armor. They were 7 feet tall, and must have been modeled to fit Hercules, judging by the muscles on the things. Curious, I walked over to one, staring up at the helmet. It was of a human face, but the features just weren't right. The parts were all in the right place, but it seemed too... perfect. Grotesquely perfect. Like when you see someone, and you know that they are attractive, and they're attractive in the 'perfect' or stereotypical way, but it just makes them seem... not. The face was male, and carved out of some sort of shining metal with love and a careful hand. It was realistic, with tiny hairs for it's eyebrows and eyelashes.

Slowly, an eyelid rolled open, revealing a blank sphere beneath it to serve as it's eyeball. I felt as it it was staring straight at me, into me, into my mind and my soul, and I realized suddenly that it wasn't a suit of armor- it was a robot. I gasped and stepped backwards, forgetting that this was a dream. The armor moved in reaction. It raised a hand to reach out to me, but something was broken, the wrist wasn't finished and the entire hand would dangle, until it finally broke off completely, falling off with a clatter.

"Who's there?" yelled a voice. I seized up, falling into the shadows and they swallowed me up whole.

I fell and I fell and it felt like I fell for eternity in the black void. I tried to scream, or to stop myself, but I was powerless. A face formed out of the blackness. It stared at me with curiosity, and caught me with it's hand, covering me.

_The night is coming_, said a voice.

I woke up on what felt like broken glass, staring at a grey concrete ceiling.

I sat up so quickly, my spots appeared before my eyes. I braced myself against the ground, getting a good look at my surroundings.

I was in what appeared to be a building under construction. It was bare, and open; the entire floor was one huge room. The only things in sight were some discarded boxes, a few plastic curtains hung from the ceiling, and the bare, lumpy mattress that I was laying on. Something shuffled from behind a curtain, and Benny's face appeared, with concern etched on his face.

"Easy there." said Benny. "You still need to rest."

"WHERE AM I?" I shouted, trying to scramble away. My limbs seemed to disobey me, and I ended up flailing most elegantly.

Benny ducked his head, looking a bit... ashamed, almost. "You're in my home,"

I glanced around again, this time picking up on the subtle hints that showed that someone was living there. There were clothes peeking out of the boxes, and books lined up on the top. The plastic sheets were hung with care, and a few blankets lay at the end of the mattress. "You live here?"

He mumbled, "Well... yeah, I mean, there's not many places a demi-god can stay, having no money and such. I... assume you're a demi-god too- I don't think I know any mortal who can lift a railing that heavy."

I blushed, and looked down. "I was desperate," I mumbled. "It's been a crazy day; I don't know how it happened, 'kay?"

"Day? Try two days ago- you've been asleep for a while. You talk in your sleep, did you know?"

I frowned, looking away and I ignored the part about my sleep habits. "Two days? Oh, God, I gotta get back home- my parents-"

"You still live at home?" Benny wrinkled his nose. He sat down next to me on the mattress. "Dev- you're a demi-god, they must expect this to happen. Being a demi-god doesn't exactly lead itself to a stable life-style."

Then I passed out again, I don't know for how long.

When I woke up, it was lighter. Benny was sitting next to me, his hand on my leg.

"What are you-" I almost screamed, but he shushed me.

"I'm not doing anything to you, just watch," he said. Wary, I frowned but watched him. He concentrated and the rips and tears of from when I was running from the storm-spirit started to stitch themselves closed, weaving and reattaching until the rips were invisible.

I gasped, unashamedly impressed. "How did you do that?"

He beamed. "Demi-gods get powers, didn't you know that? I can control clothes, make-up, jewelry, my physical appearance, love and love-like emotions." Benny wiped his hands off. "How did you think your clothes were clean?"

They were- I hadn't even noticed that but now that he had pointed out, I realized that they were spotless- and I noticed a faint floral pattern on my shirt that hadn't been there before. I was pretty sure that my jeans weren't so tight before either.

"I wasn't going to undress you, so I just cleaned you up!" Benny made jazz-hands and smiled.

"Am.. am I going to get powers?"

"Maybe... depends on who your parents is- who's your godly parent?"

I shrugged. "They don't know- I only found out that I was a demi-god yester- I mean two days ago."

"What? Seriously? Girl- how old are you?"

"Fifteen, how old are you?" I retorted defensively.

"Fifteen, but I've known since, like forever! Most people find out when they're like twelve or thirteen- you're lucky you haven't been killed already! Geez, who's your parent?"

"...My mom's named Aaarti, and my dad's George..."

"No; I mean your godly parent!"

"_She's un-un-un-un-un-un-claimed, probable male god parent,_" garbled the G-Book from inside my jacket on the box. _Oh crap, the G-Book_, I had forgotten about it. I dragged myself over to it and unzipped my jacket and gently took the book out. It was covered in grime, and the pages were still a bit soggy from two days ago. It quivered pathetically. "_Aph-Aph-APHRODITE, goddess of love and-and-and b-beauty. Lover of ARES... ZEUS, m-m-married to HERA..._"

"Is that a talking book?" asked Benny. "Seriously?"

I glanced at Benny, wondering if I could trust him. He had saved me from the river banks, I could assume, but he didn't help me fight the Venti.

Then I realized that I was, in all aspects of my life, alone. I was in a strange country with a broken talking book. I was kilometers away from my mom, and my dad was a god who never even bothered to stick around. Benny was the only person who seemed interested in me. I sighed. _Why not?_ "I-I found it. Seems like... some sort of guide." I held it out at arms' length. "I don't know- it talks but it doesn't really help."

Benny examined the book for a moment, before shrugging. "Fair enough. I've seen a lot weirder."

"_Please state-state-state-state your name and god-godly parent_," murmured the book.

"Benito, aka Benny, son of Aphrodite, at your service." Benny bowed dramatically.

"_Wel-welcome BENNY..._" it stammered weakly.

"I think it's broken now," I said. "But it gets me across borders- does something to people."

"Some magical objects can do that." Benny lay down, putting his arms behind his head. "They can make non-demi-gods see things." He said it so casually, I almost forgot that we were talking about a magical object. This was a strange world to be dropped into. I swallowed, trying to make sense of everything. Names, letters colours swirled in my head and spots appeared.

"I-I don't feel..." I began, before the world went black.

"De-ev." said a voice that sounded like an angel. Something was slapping me in the face. "De-ev wake up, you're snoring."

"Am not," I said instinctively opening my eyes. Benny was sitting next to me. He laughed. "Not anymore. Eat this." He held up a little square of what looked like crumbly fudge. I must not have eaten in days, because my stomach grumbled loudly when I saw the fudge in his hand. I snatched it from him, gobbling it down as fast as I could. It tasted weird, like a Kit-Kat bar. It was a great chocolate bar, but not what I was expecting.

"What is this?" I asked.

"Ambrosia. It's the food of the gods. It heals you quicker, but also burns you up."

"What? Actually never mind. Do you have any food? I'm starving." Already, I was feeling better. I could feel my wounds start to itch, and I refused the urge to scratch them furiously. Benny smirked. "I have cheeseburgers!" He held out a paper take-out bag from a burger joint. My hopes felled, my stomch growling louder. "I'm vegetarian," I said, disappointed.

"What?" Benny was shocked. "How can you not like beef?" He waved the bag, as if to prove a point. I sighed.

"I've never had it, okay?" I shrugged like it was no big deal. "My mom's family was strictly vegetarian, and so she was too. Do you have anything without meat?"

Benny looked into the bag. "Can you eat french fries?"

I sighed. They were could have been cooked in animal fat, but I was starving. It wasn't as bad as actual meat, right? "Fine." I snatched the fries out of his hands and wolfed them down so fast I started to choke. Benny handed me a cup of Coke to help wash it down. "Sorry, Dev, I didn't think... I didn't know that you were-" I mumbled an assurance around a mouthful of potato, and waved off his apology.

Soon, the french fries were gone, and my hunger was only dulled. "How long was I out?"

He tilted his head, thinking about it. "About three days." he said. "I mean, you were awake for some of it, delirious for most of it. I tried to make sure you drank enough- I wasn't about to try to feel you anything more than ambrosia while you were foaming at the mouth."

"Do you have any more food?"

"Sorry, no."

I started to get up, "Well, let's go get more, I'm sta-" The world spun like a top, and I sat back down heavily.

"Dev, no!" Benny grabbed my arm to steady me. "You're still too weak to start wandering around. We're going to have to wait at least a week before we can hit the road."

My head snapped up, staring at Benny. "We?"

He blushed, and shuffled his feet. "I-I thought we could, y'know, travel together. It's safer with two of us- I mean, two will attract more monsters, but we'll be able to watch each other's backs and take shifts sleeping and have someone to talk to.. The pros outweigh the cons!"

"I'm going home, Benny! Thanks for stitching me up, but I need to get back to my mom! Oh my god, my mom! She's probably so worried about me!" I dived for my bag, retrieving my cell phone.

"NO!" screamed the other demi-god, snatching the phone from me. "You can't use phones! It's like sending out a bat-signal saying WE ARE HERE AND WE TASTE YUMMY to all of the monsters in the area! I've had enough problems with the mecha-monsters that have been popping up lately.."

"You're just making that up," I scoffed.

Benny turned around, grabbing the pathetic looking Greek Book off of a box-table. "G-Book, tell her!" He gestured it at me. "Tell her we can't use cell phones!"

"_What the-the-the Hades is a cell ph-phone?_"

"Oh, my gods, you're useless!" screamed Benny. "A phone! We can't use phones."

"_Oh of course not! Any-any-any-any form of modern technological comunitcation such-such-such as telegraph, Morse code or telephone is strictly for emergency sit-sit-situations, and preferably when you can move away quickly. Monsters can sense you-you-you stronger when you use modern forms of communication Please use other convenient forms, such as Iris-message, postal-postal serivces, pigeon message, or smoke signals_."

"Smoke signals?" I asked. "Seriously?"

"Listen to the book, Dev!"

"It's my _mom_, Benito!" I pronounced his real first name witha sneer. "She doesn't know where I am!"

"And that's good! She's safe, we're safe!" Benny yelled. He stopped himself short to calm himself and sighed. "Look... We can't move- you can't move. If you call her now, she'll know where you are, but so will the monsters. Guess who will find you first? Wait until you can move, at least. Okay? Then you can call her. Please?" He pouted, his brown eyes wide. I tried not to look at them, but in the end I couldn't resist. "Fi-ine!" I moaned. "I'll wait- for now. I still might just fo home when I get better.

Benny burst out into a smile. "Okay! I'll get more food; I'll be right back!" He got up, and rushed out of the room in a way that reminded me of a puppy.

The next day or so, I drifted in and out of waking and dreaming, but I kept having the first dream over and over again. Benny was sometimes there, and he would talk to me whenever I woke up.

He'd explain things- not very well- telling me about all of the gods- some of them he had actually met, which I found surprising.

"Yeah!" Benny laughed "It's weird- you'd expect them to be huge- which they are some of the time- but they look really really average, except for my mom." Benny's face softened a little bit, revealing an extra sparkle in his eyes. "She's always beautiful."

He'd talk about the other demi-gods, or half-bloods he'd met, with their stories-

"Sometimes the gods choose demi-gods to go on quests, and they send, like, dreams that are supposed to help us on the quest- like, a sort of heads up. 'Hey! A monsters coming your way, better wake up!' or 'There's probably a chariot around the corner, it'll make your journey quicker' or 'Your outfit is just tacky, please change' depending on who's helping you."

"The gods help us?"

Benny shook his head sadly. "In my experience unless there's a big problem, only your godly parent helps you out. Even then, it's not often and their help might not even do anything. Last time I prayed to my mom for help in a fight with a Harpy, she threw a shoe at it."

"A shoe?"

"It didn't even transform into anything, it was just a shoe. A great shoe- I wish I had the other one, cause it had a slight heel with a silk- Sorry, rambling on fashion again. Sorry, I just really like clothes," he waved a hand in front of his face. "Like my mom- she's a little useless when it comes to fighting. Give me a shirt, and I can tell you the make, designer, retail store and season just by smell, but don't let me anywhere near a sword or I will somehow main three people by accident."

A huge shadow fell over the floor, and Benny froze, terror on his face. He swore, jumping to his feet and did this weird hand movement, where he clapped his left hand to a his chest, and a shimmery band of light arced over his torso, hanging on his right shoulder. In a second, it solidified into a bow in his hand and a quiver of arrows slung over his shoulder. It was the same bow and arrow that I had seen the night I had met Benny for the first time.

"How did you do that?" I hissed. He scowled and put a finger to his lips. "Magic, don't argue."

He crouched low, drawing an arrow and notching it with some difficulty. The shadow moved, and I could hear the concrete crunching under the weight, hissing, and gears clicking against each other. My heart leaped to my throat. Suddenly I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move, all I could manage was pulling my blanket up to my chin, wringing it. Right then and there, my life was hanging in the balance and the only thing I had to protect me was a guy with magic arrows who was a bad shot. Silently, Benny pulled back the string, aiming it straight at the shadow.

I held my breath.

There was a snort, and more gears spun and clicked, but nothing happened; nothing moved. Then, finally, the shadow moved again, retreating with a grunt that sounded like a car backfired. I jumped, but the thing didn't seem to notice.

Benny and I stayed perfectly still for 5 minutes after it left. By that time, Benny's arm was shaking from exhaustion.

"That was close," breathed Benny.

"That was scary," I whispered. "What was it?"

"There have been mechanical things roaming around the country lately. I've run into four or five of them," Benny stood, putting his arrow back in the quiver. He pressed his hand to his chest again, and the bow and arrow shimmered and disappeared. "They're like a new type of monster. I don't know where they came from but they're good. From what I've heard from other half-bloods, they go after groups. We're lucky it's sense of smell sucks."

"There are more of them?" I squeaked.

"Yeah..," Benny glanced at me. "Understand now why you can't go home?"

I nodded regretfully. Benny sighed.

"We're going to need to get you a weapon."

"You, are a very, very lucky person, Dev-"

"My name's actually Devitka." I corrected.

"-And you are very lucky because you found Celestial Bronze just in time to save your life."

Benny held up the shard I killed the Venti with. It glowed a pale light. "Celestial Bronze is probably the most reliable tool a demi-god can have. It's a sure-fire way of killing a monster. Land a good blow with a Celestial Bronze sword and it'll poof into dust and get sent back to Tatarus, where it will eventually reform, but that's off topic. Bronze like this is one of the most rare metals on the Earth, for the main fact that it's usually mined from Olympus. Of course, back home we had an abundant supply-"

My ears perked up, "Home?"

"-Uh... never mind, back to the point. Even though the actual ore is very rare on Earth-"

"There's no such thing as bronze ore- bronze is a mix or iron and steel," I blurted before I could stop myself. Benny just rolled his eyes.

"You accept a talking book and fudge that heals, but get nit-picking when it comes to metal? Get your priorities straight. Anyway; it's rare, but sometimes, Hephaestus, the gods of the forges who makes pretty much everything (my mom's also married to him), throws stuff he doesn't like down to from Heaven, and that's how you found it. But your luck doesn't end there." Benny picked up a basket and showed me the contents- scraps of Celestial Bronze. "I went back while you were sleeping and found enough for a weapon of your own."

"That's... nice, but I don't think either of us know how to make a sword, or have a forge to make it in."

"We have an industrial furnace downstairs- same difference." he shrugged. "Come on, it doesn't have to be anything fancy, but we're going to need at least a knife for you. I have my bow, but you need a weapon."

We made our way down the building, stopping every ten floors for me to rest and catch my breath. It was embarrassing, to be honest, but I was still weak.

The basement was dark, with a flickering light bulb every ten feet or so, leading up to the furnace in the distance.

"Wow, that's ominous," I muttered. "

"Let's just get this over with," he said. He dumped the shards on a plywood table infront of the furnace and then fumbled around for the gas valve. There was a clicking noise as the furnace tried to spark, then the metal chamber exploded with fire.

"Suddenly this doesn't seem as safe as I originally thought..," I muttered.

Benny chuckled. "Nothing's safe for us." He left to find some tools we could use and I looked over to the table.

In the light from the small window of the furnace, the Celestial Bronze shone. I leaned over the table, examining all of them. Benny said that it used to be something that one of the gods had made, I wondered what it could be. Like a puzzle, I started arranging them fitting pieces together, following the outline of the.. whatever it was. A pole, broken in 4 pieces and almost 5 feet long, was the first thing I put together. I ran my hand along it, feeling a ridge of about one and a half feet long. There was more. I started building it out from the pole, a flat sheet of bronze, extending two feet in either direction. My hands worked quickly, and by the time Benny returned with a tool box, I had finished.

"What is it?"

I wiped sweat off my forehead. "Looks like an axe," I said. In pieces on the table, the axe lay in pieces, but it was unmistakable It was a war axe, as tall as I was,with a curved blade that taped into a pointed shard at the end, perfect for stabbing, slashing, hacking and all your monster-slaying needs.

"That looks deadly."

"It makes everything a lot simpler though," I said. "I mean, we just need to reattach the pieces."

Benny stared at me for a moment, then he burst out laughing. I scowled. "What?" I snapped.

"I'm sorry- it's just- I can't do that! We only took basic forgery at- I only know a little bit- enough to make a knife," he shook his head. "Re-making a battle axe? That's a lofty idea, sister." He giggled once again. My scowled deepened. I straightened my shoulders. "Get out of my way," I pushed him to the side and grabbed a hammer and a pair of pincers from the tool box. I turned to the table, selecting the first piece of the handle. "Go get me a lot of water," I snapped at Benny, before I realized what I was saying.

He raised an amused eyebrow. "Yes, ma'am." He saluted with a flourish and went off, still giggling to himself.

When he left, I turned to the furnace, pincers and pole in hand. I wondered what I was doing for a moment, but it was pushed to the side as soon as I thought about Benny laughing. I opened the furnace door. Behind me, the G-Book, which I had taken to carrying around with me, piped up.

"_B-b-be careful!_"

"How do I do this, G-Book?" I grunted as heat blasted me, and I could feel my hair curling and hissing in the heat. I ignored it, finding it easier to bear than I expected.

"_I suggest a smaller weapon, which-which is more-more-more easily concealed..._"

"Just tell me how."

"_My knowledge is limited, but you need to hammer them-them-them together.._."

I nodded and shoved the far end of the pole in the fire. It was soft and burning white-hot in a matter of seconds, and I pulled it out, despoisting it onto the floor and picking up the next piece. I did the same, but when I retrieved the bronze from the furnace, I lay it next to the first piece and started hammering them together, the G-book interjecting every once and a while. It took a few tries to get it right, but by the time Benny got back, I had done it.

"I'm ba- HOLY SACRED COW OF APOLLO, Dev, what the hell are you doing?" yelled Benny as he returned.

"Hey Benny!" I smiled at him, brandishing the now joined pieces of bronze. "Hold still." I dunked the metal into the water pail he was holding and steam billowed out.

"Dev- how did you-"

"It actually wasn't that hard," I said giving him a pointed glance. "I mean, you just get them hot and hammer them together. I never even studied forgery or whatever and I know that." I turned my nose up at him. "I guess I'm just_ loftier _than you."

"_I told her what to do..._"

He waved his hand in front of his face to clear the steam. "You have one piece done- are you going to do _all_ of them?"

"That's the _lofty_ idea, Benny."

"I don't think you understand what lofty- never mind," he muttered. "Tell me if you need anything..."

* * *

**I will upload the next chapter later, not that anyone's sitting on the edge of their seats for it.**


	5. Lessons from Athena's kid

I held the battle axe in my hands, feeling the weight. It was battered, hammer marks in a few places, and there were places where I could practically feel where it was weak, but I believed that it would be okay for now.

"Do you like it?" asked Benny. "We're totally going to get arrested for it.

I nodded to both the question and the statement. "Yes."

A week had passed since I had nearly died, and I was happy to have made a full recovery. I could move quicker, and I was stronger than before- I could tell. Benny could barely hold the axe in it's full form, but I could swing it around with ease (well, for about 10 minutes, then I get tired and have to rest but I didn't tell Benny that).

"Ready to go?" He asked.

I nodded, resting the axe against my shoulder.

"Good- I'm just going to send an Iris-message to a friend, make sure that we can visit them."

"Iris-message!" I chirped. "A message, sent through a rainbow with a drachma as an offering!"

Benny rolled his eyes. I had been spending every waking hour leaning all I could about being a demi-god. It was easier than I thought, considering how bad I was at school. "Very good memorization, would you like a cookie?" he said, dripping with sarcasm.

"Do you have one?"

He thought for a moment. "...No."

"Then go get some, I want a cookie."

Benny laughed and handed me a hose. "Set it to mist, I'm just going to turn on the water."

He left and a moment later, a steady stream of water sprayed from the nozzle. I adjusted the setting to "mist" and waited for Benny to come back. When he did, I was holding the hose above my head an pretending that it was raining.

"What are you-"

I jumped, putting my hands rigid down at my side. "Nothing!"

He tilted his head with a little smirk, but said nothing else. He positioned me in front of a window, and waited until a rainbow appeared.

"O, Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my tribute, show me Sean McDonald" he said with reverence and threw the drachma into the mist. It disappeared mid-air, which almost made me drop the hose. "At least, I hope that's how it's supposed to go...," muttered Benny.

It must have been right, or at least acceptable, because, in the mist, a swirl of colours appeared, and they gradually formed into a face of a young man. He was a bit older than us, maybe 17, with a buzz-cut of brown hair and intelligent grey eyes.. He caught sight of us, and seemed mildly surprised to see us.

"Benny!" he cried. "Long time no see buddy, I thought you were dead!"

"Almost was, Sean," Benny smiled and I could tell that he really liked Sean. Not in a gay way, in a friend way. Although, Benny could be gay. He really did like clothes... I decided not to ask; it was his business, not mine. "I'm in Buffalo, and I found another one of us- say hi, Dev!"

"Uh-hi, Sean." I waved awkwardly trying to keep the stream of mist steady.

"Sup Dev!" Sean smiled and nodded to me. "Is it short for Devon?"

"Devitka, actually."

He smiled, a faint blush on his cheeks. "I jumped to a conclusion, sorry!" he apollogized, and turned back to face Benny. "Who's her parent?"

"We don't know yet, but she's definitely a demi-god. We're on the move, she needs _someone_ to explain everything to her _properly_, I've been trying for a week, and we need a place to stay- can we crash with you?"

"C'mon, dude...I'm with my family, you know that I can't risk them."

"Sean, we'll only be there for, like, two days, and there's three of us! We can fight off anything! She killed a storm-spirit with a scrap of Celestial Bronze! Please, man? I'm low on money and drachmas and there's these new things in the area and I just don't have the smarts to introduce Dev to the new and deadly world of demigods..." Benny turned on the big brown eyes. "Please?"

"Wait, deadly?" I chimed in, only to be ignored.

"Stop that, Benny, I'm not falling for it. You wouldn't have this problem if you were at camp."

"And you wouldn't be getting this IM if you were at camp too." Benny opened his eyes wider, tilting his head. "Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?"

Sean covered his face with his hands. "Stoooooooop it, Benny. It's not working."

"It totally is, dude, we need a place to crash. It'll be for two days, and if you can help us out with some drachmas, that's be great?"

Sean sighed, "Fi-ine," he moaned. "You can stay here for a night or so."

"Yes!" Benny punched the air in victory. "We'll be over in a few hours! Where's your address?"

"I live in Rome..." He told us his address and Beny wrote it down.

"We'll be right over!" he chirped. "See you when I see you, Sean."

The Iris-message faded, and I turned off the water. "Old friend?" I asked.

"Pretty old. We fought together a while back." Benny shrugged, like it was no big deal. "Do you want to call your mom now?"

"Are you sure- what about the whole monster thing?"

Benny shrugged. We'll be leaving in a few minutes, and... I know that it means a lot to you."

I nodded. "Okay, I-I'll be done in a few minutes..."

Walking away, I pulled out my phone, glancing around me. I dialed the number, and my mom picked up on the first ring.

"Devitka!" she shouted. "Where are you, are you okay, why haven't you called before?"

"Mom- Mom-" I said, trying to get her attention over her frantic questions. "Mom, I'm fine, I'm... fine. I had to go awa for a while, something- something was following me, it was about my real dad. I didn't want to get you involved. I'm with a-a friend. He an... expert about these things," I glanced over to Benny, who was fiddling with his bangs in a broken mirror while humming an Lady Gaga song. Bad Romance, I think. "I'm going to be gone for... for a while, okay, mom?"

"NO DEVITKA GUPTA THIS IS NOT OKAY," screamed my mother, so loudly that Benny stopped preening himself. "Get back home! Now!" A lump formed in my throat.

"Did Mrs. Gordon talk to you, Mom?" I asked. "Did she explain anything?"

"She was hallucinating! She'd lost a lot of blood!"

"So you didn't even listen?" I tried to put words together, explain what was happening but there were just so many weird things, and things I didn't know how to explain... I covered my face. "I'm sorry Mom, but- but it's complicated! It's not- It wouldn't be a good idea if I came back- I need to figure stuff out, and then I get back, I swear, I will explain it all, but I just need to-"

"Devitka! You can't do this to me!" my mother screamed. "I AM YOUR MO-" I covered my mouth and looked away as I hung up on my mother.

"...And that is why we don't call home..." said Benny softly. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah," I sighed, picking up my axe. "How are we getting there?"

"Public transportation was not how I imagined we'd be getting around..." I frowned, grasping my gift-wrapped weapon.

"Do you have a car?" retorted Benny, shrugging on his backpack. I was surprised by how much he managed to cram in there and how much of it were designer clothes.

"No," I sighed.

"Do you know how to hot-wire a car?"

"Does it have any- actually, uh- no."

"Public transportation it is then."

"Did we have to cover up my axe?" I paused, looking at my weapon. With some of the money I had, Benny had tastefully disguised my axe with Christmas themed wrapping. Now it was a later Christmas present. _Sooooo_ discreet.

Benny stopped in his tracks, turning to me and rolled his eyes. "What are mortals going to tink when they see it, Dev? You can't take long-poled battle axes on a Greyhound bus. They're really strict about that sort of thing since the shootings."

"What about the Misty-thing- can't it just-" I waved my hands. "-Mist it up?"

Benny groaned and started to walk away. "I'm embarrassed for you, Dev. I really am. The faster we get you to Sean, the better."

We boarded the bus, passing our tickets to the driver, and shuffled into our seats. We sat next to a an old man, who took a glance at my 'package.' "Bit late?" he commented.

I shook my head. "it's a Harry Potter broomstick. For my cousin. Santa's just early this year." Benny rolled his eyes but said nothing.

The bus ride took about three hours, in which the I fell asleep twice. I had a dream about me a face in the dark.

It was like the dream I had had the night the Venti attacked me, with the huge face, and the hand, but it was different. I fell and fell and then I was on a street corner, resting heavily against the brick wall of a building. In a corner, I saw a dark figure crouch and run, a huge mechanical cat stalking her. It lay low to the ground, crouched behind a bench. Its joints and springs strained to pounce and I woke up, just as the bus ran over a bump. I glanced out the window at a sign, welcoming me to Rome, New York.

As it turns out, Rome wasn't in Italy like I had thought it would be.

Benny must have caught the look on my face because he leaned over to me, whispering "Did you really think we had enough money to go to Italy?"

I ignored him.

Getting off of the bus, I glanced around for anything out of the ordinary. The weirdest thing I could see was someone busking for spare change by _trying_ to play the clarinet. I tilted my head. He probably wasn't too dangerous to anything besides our eardrums. "How far is this place?" I asked.

"It's pretty close- just around the corner..."

We walked around, finding our way to a residential housing area. It was a nice neighbourhood, with clean cut lawns, prefect garden and long drive-ways. I think they were called town houses. Benny led me over to one particular house, that was different because there was what looked like a lizard, the size of a shitzhu, was resting on the stoop, and the claw marks that were carved into the brick walls of the building. The house looked like it had been a giant cat's scatching post. My mind went back to the dream I had on the bus. Maybe the gods were trying to tell me something. I frowned. If the gods cared at all about me why didn't my 'dad' tell me who he was.

The lizard woke up as we approached and started yapping and belching little jets of flame, jumping manically around. I stopped in my tracks, keeping my distance from the little monster. "Is that a dragon?"

"Drakon. It's a tiny one, awwwww aren't you cute." Benny cooed, bending over and petting the manic drakon. It gave him the stink eye, shooting a tiny jet of flame out at Benny's pants, singeing them. Benny's face turned sour. "BAD tiny drakon BAD."

The front door opened, and a woman stood on the stoop. She took a look at us, and our generally scruffy appearance and sighed. "Sean!" she called into the house behind her. "Your friends are here!"

There was a clatter and a young man nearly fell down the stairs. He was recognizable almost immediately as Sean- the same buzz-cut hair, and the same grey eyes.

"Benito!" he shouted, tackling the owner of that name and lifting him into the air. Benny burst out into laughter, grabbing Sean's head and noogying it. "Sean!"

Sean released Benny, giving him one last beaming smile before turning on me. "You must be Devitka! Nice to meet you, congrats on surviving." He grabbed my hand and shook it.

I smiled, "Thanks.. I guess." But Sean wasn't paying attention to me any more. He turned back to Benny, pulling him inside the house "Just ignore Achilles there-" he pointed to the tiny drakon "-I just got him to alert me if any of those automaton come back.."

"Does it work?" I asked.

The woman, who I assumed was Sean's mother snorted."Certainly barks at everything..." she sighed, and held a hand out for my axe. "Please, let me take care of that." I handed it over and she put it in the coat closet.

Sean wrapped an arm around Benny and pulled him in close patting him on the chest. "You have no idea what you missed at camp this summer, I swear it was intense," he started rambling as he led Benny into the hallway and around the corner, leaving me standing awkwardly on the doorstep. I ducked in, taking my shoes off.

The inside of the house was almost nice- I could tell that a lot of time and effort to keep it with the Joneses, but it was taken over by what looked like the weaponry and defenses of a small militia.

"Don't mind the mess- we've just been needing to up the security lately..." Sean stepped over a large crossbow that was laying, primed, loaded, and pointed at a window. A thin trip wire ran across the window sill, and I realized that it was a trap. I stepped around it. "We've had a few attacks already, as you can see," he said.

I chuckled without humour. "And you were worried about us endangering your family?"

Sean shot me a dirty look. "More demigods in one place just means more monsters will be able to sniff us out." He nodded and stepped into what looked like the kitchen.

It was in the same shape as the rest of the house- an odd mix of suburban domesticity and military weaponry. At the table, a man and a young girl, and boy sat in their pyjamas, eating supper. The man, who I assumed was the father, was a handsome man, in his mid fifties and he nodded at us without blinking an eye. He launched back into his meal as the to children peered at us from their chairs.

"Who's dey?" asked the boy, revealing missing teeth.

Sean clapped his hands. "Right! Introductions!" He placed a hand on me and Benny. "Family-" he spoke to the people seated at the table "-this is Benito, or Benny. I told you about him, he used to go to camp with me. This is Dev, she's a demigod too, but she's new so I'm going to teach her stuff."

He paused and turned to face me. "Dev, this is my family." They all waved. "Starting with Johnny, over here, he's the youngest, then there's Amelia, my little sis, she's a dear. Then my lovely step-mum, Darla, and my father, Lucian, although I just call him Dad."

I frowned. "Step-mum? Then, who's your real mom?"

"Athena," Sean shrugged. "Come on, I'll show you my room."

"Grab a plate," said Darla, handing a plate of food to the three of us. "You can take it with you; don't want you to starve."

I nodded a thank you, and followed Sean up to his room.

I wasn't sure what I expected, but the room was just like my room; posters on the wall, mounds of dirty clothes and a funky smell. The only difference was that the posters featured mythical heroes like Hercules and Jason and the Argonauts and a few people I didn't recognize, but assumed were heroes of some sort. The mounds of clothes weren't just dirty, they were torn and bloodstained, and there were a few weapons lying around, but besides that it was the same.

Sean shoved some stuff under his bed and gestured for use to sit down. I crept forward, wondering where I should choose. Benny flounced in, leaving me at the door and sat under a poster of a raven-haired boy with a caption in Greek underneath that read PERSEUS JACKSON, HERO OF OLYMPUS. I blinked, surprised for a moment that I understood Greek. I shrugged it off. I had had worse surprises this week.

Sean sat down heavily into a chair under a poster featuring a fierce-looking girl with stringy brown hair named CLAIRRISE LA RUE, THE DRAKON SLAYER. "So," he said. "You're a demigod."

I nodded, sitting under a poster of a blonde haired girl with the Greek caption of ANNABETH CHASE, ARCHITECT OF OLYMPUS. "That's what they say."

"And you don't know who your dad is?"

"Not a clue."

"Hmmmm, well, that's odd, as all of the gods are supposed to claim their children by the age of 13, and take them to-"

Benny started coughing loudly and I didn't hear what Sean said. I shot him a look, and he shrugged, flashing a smile. "Sorry, something in my throat." I glanced back at Sean to find that he too was giving Benny a look. After a moment, he sighed and turned back to me. "Any way... You should have been claimed by now, claimed being the term for when a god 'claims' you as their child."

I couldn't help but feel... rejected. "But I'm not. Claimed, that is...," I said in monotone.

Sean tilted his head as if trying to look sympathetic. "Don't feel bad, it used to happen all the time, the gods get really busy-"

"When were you claimed?"

He looked awkward and coughed, "All children of Athena are claimed at birth."

It felt like a dagger in my gut. The gods were too busy to claim me, but Athena claimed her kids as soon as they were born? Busy? Yeah, _sure_. I turned to Benny. "And you?"

He sighed. "I always sort of knew, I mean... she told my dad who she was, and he told me, but even without that, it was sort of obvious." He waved at himself, and managed to look gorgeous with minimal sleep, crumbs on his chin and in a stained shirt. "I certainly wan't about to be a son of Demeter cause I suck at keeping plants and there aren't as many female Olympians who aren't on a sex-free diet, so Aphrodite. Also she claimed me when I was ten. It was a bit weird. A dove appeared above my head, and I had more-perfect-than-usual-fashion for a day or two. Was sort of underrated."

I lay back, the corners of my mouth starting to turn down, "Oh.."

"Don't be sad, Dev. We were sort of the exception." Benny took a deep breath, standing up, pacing. "The problem with you- Dev- is that you have a mental image of what being a demigod should be like. And it's wrong, okay? It's wrong. If you're lucky, you get a protector who will take you to- I mean- who will train you before the monsters eat you. Three years ago, if you were really lucky, your parent would take the time out of their busy day of hooking up with mortals, nymphs and other gods alike to actually tell you that they're your parent."

"That doesn't make me feel any better," I shot back. Benny shrugged helplessly. "I'm sorry Dev" he said. "But this is just how it is for you. Unless you want to go to Olympus yourself and demand to know your father, then you're sort of stuck..."

"How much does a plane ticket to Greece cost?"

Sean burst out laughing. "Olympus isn't in Greece anymore! It's in the Empire State building!"

I rounded on Sean and gave him a death glare. "Are you high? Because I swear I don't understand half of what you're saying."

The son of Athena sighed, picking food off of his plate. "Get comfy. We've got a lot to cover..." He turned to Benny. "We can discuss the automatons later."

We spent the night at Sean's place. After being taught the ABCs of the demigod world, it was well past eleven o'clock at night. His parents were surprisingly cool with it. I couldn't help but wonder if my mom would be that cool when I told her. If I tell her.

I'd gotten a small room to myself while Sean and Benny bunked together. It used to be a linen closet, but it had since been re purposed to being a weapons cupboard. It had been cleared of most of the weapons, and a cot had been shoved in. I thanked Mrs McDonald, and crammed myself in, settling down for the night.

I had bad dreams again.

First, I was in Sean's room. It was dark, and I couldn't see. I heard heavy breathing. There was rustling.

"Benny?" I heard Sean's voice.

Benny responded with a murmur.

"I need to talk to you about-" Sean's voice caught, but after a second, he continued. "-about the automatons."

In the darkness, Benny groaned "Do we have to do it now? I mean.. now?"

"Y-yes.. Now.."

There was a sigh, and I heard footsteps. The lights turned on, and I blinked away spots. Benny, wearing nothing but boxers, stood next to the lightswitch. Even though this was a dream, I averted my eyes quickly. He had a nice body, but I felt awkward looking at him. I turned instead to Sean, who was on his bed, pulling his covers up to his chest. "Alright, what is it...?"

"I've been talking to the other demigods I know, and at least two of them aren't responding."

"So? Who?"

"Regina, daughter of Demeter and Johnathon, son of Hermes."

"Okay."

"But what I don't understand is... I talked to their siblings, and they said that the automaton attacks suddenly stopped after Regina and Johnathon disappeared."

Benny rubbed his eyes, his eyebrows pulling together. "Are you sure this couldn't have waited until morning?"

"No!" Sean suddenly became animated, his fingers drawing shapes and ideas in the air. "The attacks didn't stop for anyone else, but it did for children of Demeter and Hermes..."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that specific demigods are being targeted."

"Can this wait until after we-"

Sean sighed and smiled a little bit. "Fine, we can talk about this in the morning. Why don't you turn off the light now?"

A look of joy flashed over Benny's face as he turned off the lights.

My vision swirled, and I felt like I was being sucked backwards. I jerked awake in the cot, covered in sweat. I felt odd, icky dreaming about Benny and Sean, and a jolt of pain shot up my leg. I nearly screamed, clutching my leg. Crap! A leg cramp!

I threw off the covers, and opened the door. The hallway was cool and dark. Outside was quiet. I was pretty sure that there wasn't anything deadly wandering the streets, so I sneaked downstairs to the front door. After carefully taking my axe from the closet, I left.

The air was cool and there was a brisk wind as I walked down the street. I wandered out of the residential area and into downtown.

Suddenly I was hit by deja-vu. This was the alley way I saw in my dream on the bus- near identical, save for the giant metal cat and girl-

Speaking of the devil- a tiny form darted out from within a doorway, followed closely by a shadowy figure atop a building.

I swore and broke into a jog. "Hey!" I shouted. "Hey, you kid!"

The little girl looked up, surprised to see me, and I stumbled at her appearance. She was wearing a shirt that was pink once, but was now faded beyond recognition, and a raggedy tutu with bare feet. Her skin, however was what threw me. She was white- and I don't mean Caucasian, I mean paper white, bone white, snow white, and so was her hair, but her eyes- her eyes were solid black, eyelid to eyelid. I pointed my axe to the automacat. "Get out of here!" I shouted. The little girl followed where I was pointing and gave out a shriek of fear. She dashed away into the shadows of an alley, disappearing.

Above me, the mechanical cat growled like a dozen cars backfiring. I swallowed. Crap. Turning tail, I ran as fast as I could. I heard it jump from the top of the building, the sidewalk being crushed under it's weight and it starting to run toward me.

My legs froze up, fear paralyzing me. I couldn't move! I swore to myself again, looking around for something to help , I turned to face the automacat, and held out my axe. This would be it. _Oh gods, I'm going to die._

Just as the cat was about to pounce, I felt a little hand grab the back of my shirt, and then I was sucked into a blackhole.


End file.
